Kazmir, though just 24, is four full seasons into his major league career. But you'll excuse Boston Red Sox fans for suggesting that it feels as if the Houston native has been around a lot longer. After all, he has started 21 games against Boston, eight more than his next most common foe, Baltimore.

It's no surprise, then, that Kazmir has more wins over the Red Sox (he's 6-7) than any team other than Oakland, against whom he's 6-2. His Red Sox mark includes a 2-3 record at The Trop, but most impressive is the ERA - 3.62 over 119 1/3 innings. He accomplished much of this when the Rays were grossly overmatched against a far superior Red Sox lineup.

Asked for the secret of his success against Boston, Kazmir said, "I don't know, [because] this is a team that always has a lot of depth and is a quality baseball team. I've just been lucky enough to have had some successful outings against them."

A new widow, Manuel's mama saw the bird in the hand — and the chickens that cash would buy, not to mention a new, three-bedroom house for her nine children still in residence in the tiny western Virginia town of Buena Vista. Always, Charles Fuqua Manuel — "Fook" to Mama — took care of his mother. With his daddy, Charles Sr., dead by the time he signed, at 19, Fook helped buy the house.

He made money playing pro ball for 19 years, in America and Japan, then coaching it. Always, he made sure the family was fed. Mama never remarried. She lived in that house for 44 years.

Yesterday, Mama died.

June Manuel, 87, succumbed at Roanoke Memorial Hospital after a brief illness. Upon a lengthy visit to her cozy brick home in 2005, she was in fine fettle:

"I look older than Mama," Manuel said.

He was right.

Rosy-cheeked, wearing a red sweater, tucked into an overstuffed chair, June Manuel glowed. She spoke like a woman who survived the Great Depression and the country's turmoil through the decades; she beamed when she spoke of her 11 children being well-positioned, owners of several vehicles, never jailed.

Twice a week or so Manuel called his mama. Every year, twice a year, once after the Phillies' season, once just before, her Fook would come by to visit. He would check her health. He would play golf with a buddy or two. He would leave, and he would promise, one day, to buy a house in Buena Vista and return, to be closer to her.

It seemed, perhaps, they had time. After all, June's mother, Ruby Edmonds, lived to be 100.

It turned out, they didn't.

But all of that happened. Thrust into the lineup at first base because of the hip injury that sidelined Mike Lowell (forcing Kevin Youkilis to shift to third base), Kotsay produced arguably the game's biggest hit last night with a checked-swing double that helped the Boston Red Sox top the Rays, 2-0, in Game 1 of the American League Championship Series.

Batting with no outs and Jason Bay on first in a scoreless game, Kotsay couldn't hold his swing at a fastball from James Shields. The 89-mile-per-hour heater was sprayed off the excuse-me swing and landed gently along the line in left field, and Kotsay legged out a double to put runners on second and third.

Rookie Jed Lowrie followed by lifting an 0-and-2 changeup to right, allowing Bay to tag and score the game's first run. Kotsay also advanced, but was stranded at third.

"I got lucky," said Kotsay. "I took a checked swing and the ball ended up finding some outfield grass and turned into a double. That's part of the game.''

Then Frerotte played in a game every bit as violent. During the Vikings' 30-27 victory over New Orleans on Monday, there were a half-dozen hits on which a defender or blocker left his feet, turning his body into a missile that caused the receiver of the blow to fly through the air himself.

This is the modern NFL — a new breed of players moving with more speed and ferocity than ever, wrote columnist Jim Souhan of the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

Frerotte took one hit that forced him to leave the game to "evaluate" himself, and his willingness to play when team trainers were trying to examine him further might have won the game, and won over his locker room.

Before Frerotte started taking shots to the head and sternum, Vikings linebacker Erin Henderson got blindsided by a block while chasing Reggie Bush on a punt return. Henderson's feet flipped high in the air and he landed on his back. Then he got up and chased futilely after Bush. This week, Henderson has spent a lot of time in the team's training room.

On another play, Saints tight end Billy Miller caught a short pass and sprinted downfield. Vikings cornerback Cedric Griffin vectored over from the sideline, launched himself, and flattened Miller, who remained prone for minutes while Griffin paced, worried, 20 yards away.

And the Phillies pounded Derek Lowe and Chad Billingsley for 11 runs and 14 hits in the first two games of the National League Championship Series, pushing the Dodgers into a hole from which only two NL teams have ever crawled out.

But the Phillies aren't celebrating just yet.

"This series is far from over," said outfielder Jayson Werth, who doubled and scored a run in Friday's 8-5 victory, which sends the best-of-seven series to Dodger Stadium for Game 3 on Sunday with the Phillies leading, 2-0. "We're going to go to L.A. where they played us very tough. But it's nice to have this momentum going into their home park."

Philadelphia is the 19th team to win the first two games of an NLCS. And only twice before — in 1984 and 1985 — has the team with the 2-0 lead failed to advance to the World Series.

But the Phillies, who have won seven straight and 12 of their last 14 at home, know the road is a different place. The Dodgers swept them in a four-game series at Dodger Stadium in August. But with just three games scheduled for L.A., the worst-case scenario for Philadelphia has the series coming back to Citizens Bank Park.

The best-case scenario, of course, has them clinching a league title by winning two of three in Los Angeles.

"Maybe we need to do some Crown Royal shots," Ramirez said. "Maybe do them [today]. Have a meeting."

Kevin Millar, Pedro Martinez and Johnny Damon led the Red Sox rodeo in 2004 that came from a 3-0 hole in the ALCS and beat Joe Torre's Yankees. Legend has it the Sox slugged some pregame whiskey shooters to stay loose and end the curse.

Liquor might help, but decent pitching would have done the trick last night. Chad Billingsley, the most promising young arm in the organization, recorded the worst start of his 2½-year career: eight runs, seven earned, just seven outs recorded in an 8-5 loss. That left the Dodgers in an 0-2 hole as the best-of-seven series heads to LA for Games 3, 4 and 5 tomorrow, Monday and Wednesday.

Manny was as cool as ever.

"We'll go home. Play some music," Ramirez said.

He danced around the bases after his three-run homer in the fourth inning cut the Phillies' lead from 8-2 to the final score, extending his postseason home-run record to 27. Now 3-for-8 with four RBI, Ramirez is doing the part for which he was acquired from Boston at the deadline.

Things can get worse. Manny has lived that, and he knows the remedy:

Eighty-proof nectar, distilled in Manitoba, sold in a purple velvet bag.

Other than, you know, the lack of runs, wrote St. Petersburg Times columnist John Romano. The Red Sox beat the Rays 2-0 in Game 1, and suddenly Tampa Bay is beginning to understand the heartbreak that is always lurking just around the corner in October.

Home-field advantage is not completely lost in the series, but it is diminished. By not winning both games at Tropicana Field this weekend, the Rays run the risk of never coming back here in 2008.

What is disturbing is that this was the type of game the Rays have typically won this season. It was tight, and it was dramatic. All it lacked was that out-of-nowhere clutch hit from someone on loan from a beer league softball team. Twenty-eight times the Rays had won this season when trailing by two or more runs. No other team in the majors can match that kind of drama or perseverance.

"I thought we were coming back. It felt like that all night," said Tampa reliever J.P. Howell. "But that's what happens when you run into a good team. The more drama there is, the better they're going to get."

Myers Version 4.0 is 2-0 on the mound and 4 for 5 at the plate in this postseason. He startles Manny Ramirez with out-of-control fastballs, becomes the first pitcher ever to get three hits in a league championship series game, and runs the bases like a gazelle.

Well, a gazelle strapped to the front fender of a Ford pickup, wrote Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Phil Sheridan.

Myers Version 4.0 had the unflappable Joe Torre flapped. Torre has managed somewhere around three billion postseason games and seen everything at least five times. But he found himself muttering about the impact Myers had on his Game 2 starter, Chad Billingsley.

"He got the catcher [Carlos Ruiz] and he pitched to the pitcher," Torre said, explaining Billingsley's disastrous third inning. "I think [Myers] had four hits all year and he gets three in this game. So that's tough to sort of count on and defend against."

In the first inning, Myers threw an inside fastball to Ramirez. Then he threw a fastball so inside it was on the other side, sailing behind Ramirez's head and drawing the attention of Torre and the rest of the Dodgers.

"It's Manny Ramirez," Myers said. "I wanted to throw it 100 [m.p.h.]. I threw the first one inside, and I wanted to throw the next one even harder. To be successful, I have to throw inside. I don't want to hit their best player. If I hit their best player, they're going to throw at one of our best players. I don't want to get one of our guys hurt."

Because of the late-afternoon shadows, Myers' accidental purpose pitches — he dusted Russell Martin, the hitter before Ramirez — were especially troubling to Torre.

"The thing that worried me about that situation," Torre said, "was the fact it was so tough to see at that time of day. And we all know how aggressive Myers wants to be and how pumped up he gets. But the thing that frightened me more than anything was, it was tough to see."

Dodgers first-base coach Mariano Duncan, the former Phillies infielder, gave Myers grief at the end of the inning. Myers said the ball was slick and got away from him.

So how come it already feels like the Red Sox are going to the World Series? It just does. There's a swagger and confidence about this bunch. They do the right thing. They let the other guys make the mistakes.

It all started four years ago in the hours after the 19-8, Game 3 humiliation against the Yankees. Since that night, the Red Sox, for the most part, have been October gold.

"You just have to do the little things to help your team win," said Kevin Youkilis, who was there way back in '04. "You don't have to hit a grand slam. You just have to play defense, run the bases well, and grind out at-bats."

And that's what they do. The Rays had plenty of opportunities last night but failed to capitalize. The Red Sox always seem to come through when it counts. Ask the Angels. Ask the Colorado Rockies. Ask the Cleveland Indians, the St. Louis Cardinals, or the New York Yankees.

Who is this team that, one week after boldly sweeping the Chicago Cubs, is timidly collecting at the same dustpan after losing the first two games of the National League Championship Series to the Philadelphia Phillies?

The final score here in Friday's Game 2 Phillies' victory was 8-5, but it wasn't that close, because the Dodgers just weren't that good.

Who is this manager who allowed his starting pitcher to wilt for a second consecutive game? What happened to the great Joe Torre?

Who is this outfielder who has one bloop hit in seven at-bats, zero hits in five chances with men on base and one big center-field boot? Where is the likable Matt Kemp?

What about the leadoff hitter who has one hit in nine at-bats, a game-changing wild throw, and all sorts of uncomfortable grimaces? Who took the beloved Rafael Furcal?

The Dodgers didn't just leave Citizens Bank Park field Friday, they were thrown out by a Phillies team that pushed them to the door just before snatching their swagger.

Gone is the clubhouse music. Gone are the hopeful smiles. Gone is the idea that Manny Ramirez can carry them.

He hit a three-run homer Friday, he's batting .375 in the series, and the Dodgers still haven't won a game.

The couple bought the property for $12 million from philanthropist and arts patron Ella Cisneros in December '04, shortly after the birth of their first child, Natasha. They also have a daughter, Ella. Cynthia's parents, John and Evangeline Scurtis, live nearby on Battersea Road.

The Rodriguezes reached a marital settlement agreement last month, but thedivorce is not yet final. ''They're getting along well and focusing on raising their children,'' says Maurice Kutner, one of Cynthia's lawyers. Natasha turns 4 in November; Ella is 5 months.

Coldwell Banker's Polly Schiff and Kim Gomberg have the listing. Cynthia, 35, is reportedly house-hunting in the Gables and Coconut Grove. Word is the 33-year-old major leaguer has been hanging his cap at a home on Star Island. He also has a condo on Manhattan's Upper East Side. He's got plenty of bucks -- his 10-year baseball contract is worth $275 million.

''Yeah, it's going to affect the deal structure,'' Cuban said Thursday at the United Center, where the Mavericks played the Bulls in an exhibition game. ''It's going to create a challenge. Anytime the cost of capital goes up, the cost of assets goes down, which is what you're seeing in the stock market. Honestly, they'd be crazy to do something now because it's not optimal for them and it's not optimal for the buyer. So there's not really a rush.

''In a market like this, when there's so much uncertainty and IBM and General Electric don't know how much they're going to pay on a loan, Mark Cuban doesn't know, either. Six months ago, you could say: 'Here's how much this debt is going to cost you. Here are the terms that are available. Yes or no?' Now you can't do that anymore. Even if we wanted to close the day after tomorrow, the banks might not be able to close. There's that uncertainty that gets involved. So that just changes the tenor of it.''

Cuban said he's content to let time take care of the purchase particulars of a deal some value at $1 billion or more. And he wouldn't hazard a guess as to when the sale would be finalized.

''I really didn't have an expectation,'' he said. ''It's a fluid process. There are a lot of pieces that need to be put together and a lot of elements. It's still moving forward, just not moving forward as quickly. I'm in no rush. There's no drop-dead date.''

Timlin, coming off the worst of his six seasons with the Sox, was excluded from the Division Series roster, but he'll be active for the seven-game series against the Tampa Bay Rays. To make room, the Sox removed utility player Gil Velazquez.

"I don't know how [Timlin] will fit in," Francona said. "But I know there will be a comfort level putting him on the roster. We felt like in a potential seven-game series, you need to have the other pitcher. You get yourself into a little bit of a bind if you don't."

Timlin, an 18-year veteran, was 4-4 with a 5.66 ERA in 47 games this season. Francona couldn't afford to make him one of the 10 pitchers the Sox carried in the ALDS. But with an 11th spot needed this series, Francona tabbed Timlin, who last pitched Sept. 28, throwing one scoreless inning.

Francona praised Timlin for his professionalism in handling his exclusion from the ALDS, but Timlin said, "I can't say the full conversation was professional." Thursday's talk went better for both men.

Boston also has three right-handers in their rotation, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Josh Beckett and knuckleball-throwing Tim Wakefield, who are not adept at holding runners on, and a catcher, Jason Varitek, whose throwing arm is average, at best. So, measures will have to be taken to control the Rays.

"All of our pitchers have the ability to incorporate a slide step as well as varying their hold times," Boston pitching coach John Farrell said. "It's a combination of using all of those things, so you're not predictable and giving added information to the opponent to pick what pitches to steal on."

The best deterrent, Farrell said, will be early leads.

"A lot of times the game situation dictates if a team is going to run a lot," Farrell said. "The importance of scoring early and first is one of the keys to help slow down a running game. The Angels only ran when the game was tied or they were up, when could gamble a little more. Yes, you have to contain the running game, but at the same time, you don't want to sacrifice the pitches you throw to the hitter."

"Some guys are afraid of the big moments," Miller said.

Not James Shields, the Rays' 26-year-old right-hander who will start Game 1 of the American League Championship Series against the Boston Red Sox tonight in Tropicana Field.

"He wants the ball," Miller said. "I think that's what separates him from a lot of guys. You can see it in his eyes, that determined focus."

The strength of Tampa Bay's rotation has been depth — though the Rays lack that front-of-the-rotation hammer such as CC Sabathia or Johan Santana, they have five quality starters who give them a chance to win night after night.

But Shields has emerged as the team's ace, not so much because his stuff is overpowering, but because his mental makeup is. Fuming about Coco Crisp's hard slide into Rays second baseman Akinori Iwamura on June 4 in Fenway Park, Shields drilled the Red Sox outfielder in the hip in his first at-bat the following night, touching off a wild benches-clearing brawl.

Shields drew a six-game suspension for the incident, and four teammates were suspended, but the fight helped galvanize the Rays, who went from a major league-worst 66-96 in 2007 to 97-65 and an AL East title in 2008.

OK, he didn't come out smoking the way he did in his powerful Game 1 Division Series victory over the Brewers. But he hung tough as John Wayne waiting for the cavalry to arrive. He left with a 3-2 lead after seven innings that kept getting better and 105 pitches that set the table for another bravura bullpen performance, another save for Brad Lidge.

The kid has it all, just like Bogie and Bacall. Aquiline SoCal good looks. Trophy wife. Enough herbals, lotions, potions, notions and holistic exotica to make Hugh Hefner envious. A grand plan where he and Heidi will rebuild a school in disease- and poverty-ravished Malawi.

And a changeup so good it should have a name. How about "Dow Jones?"

The 39-year-old veteran, who went 28 for 32 in save opportunities this season but was on the disabled list three times, threw a 35-pitch simulated game in Tropicana Field today and said he felt as good physically as he has all year.

But Percival battled tightness in September, has had only one save since Aug. 13 and was left off the team's division series roster.

With the team's short relievers emerging as a dominant group and Dan Wheeler a dependable closer, Maddon opted for starter Edwin Jackson over Percival for his final bullpen spot.

"You think you're pitching fairly well and the next thing you know, you're down one and that's ultimately the final score," Lowe said.

Lowe especially was kicking himself for Utley's home run, which came on the first pitch after Shane Victorino had reached second on an error by Dodgers shortstop Rafael Furcal. Utley hit a high drive that reached the seats in right-center as Lowe gestured in disgust.

"The pitch to Utley, I know better than that," he said. "They had just gotten a guy to second base and the crowd was into it. I pretty much knew he was going to swing at the first pitch. It's just getting past the first pitch, but I threw him a flat sinker over the plate and there you go."

Lowe retired Ryan Howard for the second out. But Burrell worked the count to 3-1 against him, and then lined a home run that barely cleared the flower bed in left field and went into the first couple of rows.

"It was kind of the same thing with Burrell's ball," Lowe said. "In this park, walks will kill you. The same kind of pitch, it kind of drifted out over the plate."

Which means the Philadelphia Phillies had Lowe just where they wanted him.

"We knew if we were going to score, we were going to score late," reliever Ryan Madson said. "So we're just out there waiting for it to happen."

Forty times this year, the Phillies have come from behind to win, including twice in the postseason. But none of those victories was more important than Thursday's, when sixth-inning home runs by Chase Utley and Pat Burrell wiped out a 2-0 Dodgers lead and gave Philadelphia a 3-2 win in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series.

"Mentally, we just don't feel we're ever out of a game," said Phillies closer Brad Lidge, who pitched a perfect ninth for his NLCS-record sixth save. "It's a toughness other teams don't have."

It is the sweetest baseball sentence: The bullpen finished it off. It is so simple and yet so, so hard. The inability to write it consistently is the reason the Mets are watching this series on television. It is the reason more major league managers get fired than any other. It is the last, underrated piece of the Phillies' Game 1 victory in the National League Championship Series — the blossoming Ryan Madson in the eighth and the perfect Brad Lidge in the ninth.

"I felt awesome," said Lidge, who has yet to blow a save all season. "There was a lot of electricity out there and the fans were amazing tonight. When they got going there was a lot of adrenalin out there. They give you a lift. They give you something extra."

Nerves?

"You always have nerves," he said. "You want nerves. You want to have the butterflies and the adrenalin. When you lose that, it's probably a bad sign. Right now, I'm feeling great about them," Lidge said.

"This ballclub has come to play every day," Manager Joe Torre said of his Dodgers after they dropped a 3-2 decision Thursday night to the Philadelphia Phillies. "They have a lot of confidence in themselves."

And if the Phillies are overly confident after erasing a 2-0 deficit in the span of three batters to beat a pitcher — Derek Lowe — they had never beaten at home, they weren't showing that either.

"It's the first team to win four [games], not one," said shortstop Jimmy Rollins. "The approach isn't going to change. You don't get too confident because that team over there can strike fast."

No matter how you spin it, though, Thursday's loss, the Dodgers' first in postseason play, backs them into a corner since a loss this afternoon would leave them in a deep hole coming home.

And for Torre, Friday's game will be his first chance in weeks to see how his team bounces back from adversity.

"[Today] will be the first game we're going after somebody after we lose," said Torre, whose team had won 22 of 30 heading into the NLCS. "I think I'll get a sense if I feel anything different, but my sense is I won't. You face the best players and the [best] pitchers and things are going to happen."

"You see that?'' asked Jimmy Rollins, laughing. "They've been doing that for a while. They get the Pat Burrell standing ovation going every time he does something spectacular. But at the same time when he isn't doing something spectacular, I turn around. Because some of the things they say make me laugh. "And he's just sitting there putting his hands up like, 'What can I do?' ''

Here's what Burrell didn't do. He didn't demand a trade. He didn't lash out at the fans, call us names back, names like "front-runners.'' He never spoke obscenely about our relationships with cousins and siblings. Recalling his famous blow-off of manager Larry Bowa after that home run at Shea, it was funny to see the two men shake hands and embrace before last night's game.

Largely because of that big contract he signed after Rolen's exit, Burrell has hung around long enough to change our minds. And maybe his mind warmed to us a little, too. For the second playoff game in a row, he did something else that he didn't used to do. He let us in, he let us share his joy, he seemed genuinely appreciative of the towel-waving love that cascaded down from the 45,839 at Citizens Bank Park.

Fernandez, who had a team-high 15 points to go along with seven assists and six steals, stepped on the foot of teammate and friend Sergio Rodriguez during a drive through the lane, instantly sending him to the court. As play continued toward the other end of the court, Fernandez lay crumpled, holding his ankle.

Fernandez, who played a team-high 36 minutes, will be evaluated today, but will most likely miss Friday's game against Atlanta in Kansas City, Mo.

"It doesn't look serious, but I'm sure he will be out for a few days," coach Nate McMillan said.

The deflating development came just hours after the team learned that starting small forward Martell Webster would be lost for two months because of a stress fracture in his left foot.

Fernandez's injury leaves the team with two legitimate shooting guards -- Roy and rookie Jerryd Bayless. And Roy, who had knee surgery on Aug. 14, is trying to play as little as possible this month in order to be 100 percent for the Oct. 28 season opener at the Los Angeles Lakers.

Fernandez' injury continues a preseason trend for the Blazers. After Roy's surgery in August, Channing Frye had ankle surgery in September and starting point guard Steve Blake pulled a hamstring the opening week of October's training camp.

"Physically I think I was ready (for the first round), but now, mechanically, I'm more ready 'cause I got a chance to go out there and work on what I wanted to work on, which I didn't have time to do before," Percival said.

"I got out in the bullpen, worked with the pitching coach down there, and within 15 pitches ... I noticed a distinct difference: throwing the ball where I wanted to, had more life on the ball and had zero effect the next day."

Percival, who led the Rays with 28 saves but had three stints on the DL, was not as sharp during a bullpen session Wednesday, which will add to the discussion.

"I think the word is satisfaction, more so than vindication," Torre said.

This sounded so safe, so benign, that you could almost believe him incapable of wanting to send Hank Steinbrenner an autographed program from the National League Championship Series against the Phillies that begins Thursday night. Steinbrenner's Yankees, who encouraged Torre (that would be a Torre way of putting it) to walk away from their calculatingly insulting offer last October and then wrote him out of their prosperous history on the night Yankee Stadium was celebrated, would deserve at least that.

"I know Joe is never going to admit it, but I think it means a lot to him to be at this stage right now," said Larry Bowa, empowered by personality and his position as Torre's third-base coach to say all that his boss must be thinking. You keep reading that, well, he should have gone to the playoffs because of your payroll in New York," Bowa said, implying the Steinbrenners never got or appreciated Torre's impact. "But they had the same payroll this year and they didn't get in."

Torre could not have said it better if he allowed his inner Joe Sixpack to run publicly wild.

Aybar grounded out and the Red Sox scored the series-clinching run in the bottom of the inning, triggering a torrent of outrage among Angels fans who thought their manager should have tried a more conservative approach given the circumstances.

"If you're afraid of the downside of any situation, you're never going to achieve," Scioscia said. "I thought it was our best chance right there to get that run in and get this game to Frankie [Rodriguez] in the bottom of the ninth. . . . There was a very high probability that that ball was going to be put down to where Reggie walks home. That was the basis of my decision.

"It was an extremely high-percentage play given the count, the guy that was on base and the guy that was in the batter's box. And I'll tell you what, if it happens again, we're doing it again and Erick's getting that bunt down. I can guarantee you that."

Scioscia said Aybar, who led the team with nine sacrifice bunts, was taking his inability to execute one at a crucial time extremely hard.

"If the [team] would have let me do the surgery in January, he'd probably be pitching in the playoffs now," Morgan said in a telephone interview.

Schilling, who turns 42 next month, missed the entire season after having shoulder surgery in June. The Red Sox won the AL wild card without him.

Only 3½ months after the operation was performed, Morgan described Schilling's shoulder as "phenomenal."

Red Sox owner John Henry, general manager Theo Epstein, president Larry Lucchino, and team physician Thomas Gill did not respond to e-mail requests for comment.

A spokesman for Schilling said the pitcher had no comment. He is signed for only 2008 at $8 million.

But this is also baseball, where rancor dies hard. The brawling history of the Boston Red Sox and Tampa Bay Rays extends nearly a decade, when Pedro Martínez drilled Gerald Williams with a pitch in 2000, ignited a brawl, and then nearly no-hit the (then-Devil) Rays. Pitcher Tim Wakefield and catcher Jason Varitek are the only Red Sox remaining from that team, but the rivalry never abated, and may have intensified with the Rays' ascension in the American League East. Now that the AL Championship Series is here, and the stakes may be too high to risk suspensions, is the potential for another fracas officially over?

"I don't know," said closer Jonathan Papelbon. "There could be something that stirs it right back up. You know how these things linger all year long. I do know one thing: We're going to go to the ALCS and play good baseball."

Coco Crisp and James Shields provided the most prominent episode this season, trading punches in the middle of the diamond June 5 as the benches cleared at Fenway Park. The teams, while remaining in their dugouts, shared a stare-down after several batters were plunked during their mid-September series at Tropicana Field. Crisp does not anticipate a repeat, but he didn't rule it out, either.

"Anything could happen with any team," Crisp said. "I think that any time, it just doesn't matter. But it is intense, a little more during the playoffs. If something was to happen, maybe somebody will take something wrong. I doubt it. I don't hold grudges at all about too many things," he added. "Nobody has directly come up to me and said they don't like me."

Some Red Sox dismissed the possibility of more fighting; some kept an open mind.

"It's extraordinary — the dichotomy between what he was in Boston and what he is in Los Angeles," McCarver said. "I mean, talk about wearing out your welcome in a town, and it was a long welcome with the Red Sox. But some of the things he did were simply despicable, despicable - like not playing, refusing to play. Forgetting what knee to limp on. And now it's washed, it's gone."

Not gone in Boston, McCarver said, but he gives Ramirez his complete due for what he's done in L.A.

"A rejuvenated Manny, I think it would be fair to say," McCarver said, sitting in the Phillies dugout yesterday. "More than old Manny. Manny's doing things that even Manny doesn't do, [like] scoring on a double to right field from first base."

McCarver laughed and asked which knee was it that was hurting?

"It's a wonderful story in many, many ways, and from Boston's standpoint, it's a horrible story, I would imagine, because he could be doing that for Boston," McCarver said.

He also believes Ramirez presents fans here a scenario they are most familiar with.

"Every sport, there have been people who have held organizations hostage, whether it be Terrell Owens or Randy Moss or Manny Ramirez," McCarver said.

Particularly during their four-game sweep of the Dodgers in Philadelphia in late August, Phillies pitchers did an excellent job of attacking him inside. During a 8-1 win in the first game of the series, righthander Kyle Kendrick threw Ramirez 24 pitches. An unofficial tally showed that 19 of those pitches were inside. But the task is much more difficult than the Phillies made it seem during those four games, when Ramirez went 2-for-14. After all, every pitching staff has a game plan. And with thousands of hours of video at their disposal, it isn't hard to figure out what that plan is.

"You can't do the same thing to him," Dubee said. "He makes adjustments. You've got to change your patterns and you've got to make a bunch of quality pitches to him."

Lefthander J.C. Romero doesn't expect to see too much action against the righthanded Ramirez this series. But he did spend 3 months as his teammate with the Boston Red Sox in 2007, so he does have some idea about pitching to him.

"I won't face him, but everybody in the league knows what he brings," Romero said. "He's no secret. I'm sure we will pitch him tough and try to keep him off balance."

In mid-August, the Dodgers swept the Phillies in Los Angeles. Ramirez wasn't the only reason for their success. But he did finish the series 4-for-11 with a home run and five RBI. The Phillies walked him six times, four intentionally.

And so now, seven seasons into the John Henry era and just four wins from another trip to the World Series, we ask you: what are the Red Sox if not self-assured? During a time when the clubs with the best regular-season records in their respective leagues are now reorganizing their closets — the Los Angeles Angels and Chicago Cubs — the Red Sox are still playing baseball. Again. Boston continues to win, no matter what, and many people on the outside like the Red Sox the way they like the San Antonio Spurs entering any NBA postseason. Because the Spurs have a pedigree, because they have cachet, because they generally win when it matters most. Even if they lose.

For a moment here, try to emotionally divest yourself and ask the following question: No matter what happens over the next few weeks — if it lasts that long — are the Red Sox going to be perceived any differently come next spring? Doubtful. More than likely, people are going to merely look at them and say: "And, of course, you can never count out Boston." The level of respect outsiders have for the Boston organization now is beyond healthy; Red Sox success has reached the point where it is virtually unquestioned. We look at the Red Sox and see a hobbling Mike Lowell, a questionable Josh Beckett and a maddening Daisuke Matsuzaka. They look at the Sox and see a fearless Jon Lester, a steady Jed Lowrie, and a dynamic Jacoby Ellsbury.

And then they ask: Where do the Red Sox keep finding these guys? And how do we get what they have?

"I didn't expect this," he said.

Saito went into Manager Joe Torre's office Wednesday afternoon thinking he could be closing for the Dodgers in the National League Championship Series. He came out of the meeting with Torre, General Manager Ned Colletti and pitching coach Rick Honeycutt thinking he wouldn't even be on the 25-man roster.

"There's probably a good chance of that happening," he said.

Torre made no promises to the 38-year-old former All-Star, asking him to throw a post-workout bullpen session at Citizens Bank Park, then asking him to wait until this morning to learn whether he'll be part of the Dodgers' plans for this round of the playoffs. If Saito is excluded, his roster spot could go to left-hander Hong-Chih Kuo, who has recovered from elbow problems that kept him out of the division series sweep of the Chicago Cubs. The Dodgers must submit their series roster by 10 a.m. EDT.

Saito sprained an elbow ligament in July and was sidelined for two months. Torre worked him back into the closer's role over the last two weeks of the regular season and had Honeycutt tell him on the day the playoffs started that the job was his. But he failed to get an out and gave up two runs in Game 2 of the division series.

Jonathan Broxton closed the final game of that series and Torre said he would probably use Broxton again in that role in Philadelphia.

This is supposed to make Philly an intimidating place to play, Bowa telling the media Wednesday that if the Dodgers thought Chicago was bad, "they're going to be in for a rude awakening" playing here.

"It was like a West Coast crowd in Chicago," said Bowa, the Philly in him unable to keep himself from slapping Dodgers fans, and apparently discounting the manner in which Nancy Bea Hefley can whip a Dodgers crowd into a frenzy. But if a Philly crowd is so intimidating, as Bowa suggests, why do the Phillies lose here so often? A year ago, the Phillies became the first pro sports franchise in North American history to lose 10,000 games.

Philly has always been more bark than championship bite, so why should the Dodgers give a hoot about folks who paint their faces and then have to drive home looking like sad clowns?

"It's different when you're not playing," Hamels said Wednesday. "When you're sitting there seeing the crowd go nuts and you want to win so bad, you can't do anything about it. I think it's the part when you're playing - it's the game, and you enjoy it so much. You've been working so hard since spring training to go out there and win."

That's why Hamels will be excited to go to the mound — not sit around —  Thursday night at Citizens Bank Park to start Game 1 of the National League Championship Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Hamels, 24, started twice against the Dodgers during the regular season, going 1-0 with a 2.57 earned run average while the Dodgers hit .192 against him.

"I think it helps that I have faced them this year," he said. "I think that was kind of the problem I had last year. I never faced Colorado, so I didn't know what to expect. Being able to face the Dodgers twice this year kind of gives me a heads-up of what I can look for, the angles, the holes, what guys are going to do, the potential that guys can either steal or hit the big home run. It's not going to be a new experience."

He added that he wanted to "just go out there and treat it as another game, even though I really do want to win."

A team representative in the Dominican told AP that Marmol received seven stitches in his forehead but was otherwise healthy. Oneri Fleita, Cubs' vice president for player personnel, said a team scout there had talked to friends in Marmol's neighborhood and confirmed he had stitches but was OK.

Team officials in Chicago had not spoken directly to Marmol because he had not yet set up his cell phone service there.

''He's not hurt at all,'' general manager Jim Hendry said after Marmol's agent contacted the team Tuesday. Aramis Ramirez, who shares the same agent, talked to Marmol and informed the agent the pitcher was fine, Hendry said.

Bonds, honorary chair of this year's lighting, did not talk to reporters and left quickly after giving a brief speech during the 30-minute ceremony. Lights adorning the large tree in Union Square are sold to benefit the UCSF Children's Hospital palliative care program, and nearly $700,000 has been raised during the past five years.

Bonds was questioned by a young patient about potentially returning to baseball.

"I had fun," Bonds said. "But I like my freedom."

Bonds has donated time and money to the program, hosting golf tournaments and visiting patients and their families. He passed out autographed baseball cards of himself and politely chatted with several patients, many confined to wheelchairs.

"We all go through adversities and tragedies," Bonds told the crowd, which greeted him with a standing ovation. "It takes every one of us to stick together to make all of our children's times as precious as we can."

Bonds pleaded not guilty to 14 counts of making false declarations to a federal grand jury and one count of obstruction of justice, and his trial is scheduled to start March 2. Bonds is accused of lying when he said he never knowingly used performance-enhancing drugs during 2003 grand jury testimony.

The 44-year-old Bonds hit 762 homers, seven more than the previous record set by Hank Aaron.

After a season of a .239 batting average, only 11 home runs and a disturbing number of strikeouts, he went in search of the former Francoeur who had brought many a crowd to its feet at Turner Field. His game had made some recovery in the closing days, to the point that he had been moved to cleanup in the batting order against the Astros. Then he struck out three times in the last game.

"What happened to me this year will not happen again," he said, with a steely glint in his eyes. He had checked into the Disney World camp at a plumpish 238 pounds, a figure unbecoming him. He had been wed in the offseason and perhaps grew a little fat and happy as a husband.

"I weigh 218 now, always my game weight, and I've got to get the rest of me in baseball shape. Nobody looked forward to the end of this season more than I did."

For the first time in his life he heard boos, in his hometown, from people who had once adored him. "I had never failed like I did this year. I've always succeeded in what I did. I've never known what it is to fail," he said with feeling. "This will not happen again, I promise."

In search of a replacement for Bill Bavasi, who was fired on June 16, the Mariners will interview Peter Woodfork, the Arizona Diamondbacks assistant general manager; Jerry DiPoto, Diamondbacks director of player personnel; Tony Bernazard, New York Mets vice president of player development; Kim Ng, Los Angeles Dodgers assistant general manager; and Tony LaCava, Toronto Blue Jays assistant general manager.

"I'm talking about a work path that's simple and steady," said Mattingly, the credibility of his 2,153 hits with the New York Yankees coming when many of his Dodgers students were still in grade school. Have a plan for every at-bat. Understand what the pitcher is trying to do to you and what you need to do to him. Manny would rather die than go to bat without a plan. He likes to say, 'I'll give the pitcher this much of the plate, but if he misses here, then he's mine.'"

Energized by Ramirez, adapting to their hitting instructor's concept, the Dodgers have become a confident juggernaut of sorts.

And as Mattingly has watched the maturation, and seen the Dodgers advance to the National League Championship Series, he has emerged on the upside of a "difficult and emotional" 12-month period -- October to October — and he remains the managerial heir, be it at the end of Torre's three-year contract or beyond.

Teams are allowed to update their 25-man rosters before each playoff series. Assistant general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said significant changes were unlikely, but allowed for the possibility of some massaging.

One move the Phillies are currently debating, according to pitching coach Rich Dubee, involves the final spot in the bullpen. Currently, that position is occupied by lefthander J.A. Happ, who did not appear in the division series against the Brewers.

Dubee said he didn't think the team would keep more than the 11 pitchers it carried for the division series. But they are contemplating using Happ's spot to carry reliever Rudy Seanez. The decision will boil down to what they deem more valuable: a long-man capable of pitching multiple innings in the event of a starter breaking down, or another righthander who would be more likely to contribute in mid-to-late inning situations.

Seanez went 5-4 with a 3.53 ERA during the regular season, spending close to a month on the disabled list in July and August with back and shoulder problems. He pitched for the Dodgers last season, going 6-3 with a 3.79 ERA, but was released after spring training.

"Baseball's the only game where you can completely take a person out of the outcome of the game," said Howard, who has spent many plate appearances standing in the batter's box watching the opposing pitcher play catch. "It's frustrating in the sense that if you're competitive, you want to try to help your team win as much as you can."

Which, essentially, Howard is doing by accepting those free passes. Take Game 4 of the NL division series, for example. With a runner at third and Howard at the plate with two out in the third inning, Milwaukee catcher Jason Kendall signaled for an intentional walk.

"I told Kendall I want to play too," Howard said.

But the walk forced Brewers pitcher Jeff Suppan to throw a strike to the next hitter and he left it too far out over the plate. Pat Burrell hit it out, effectively ending Milwaukee's season and sending Howard and the Philadelphia Phillies on to the NL Championship Series against the Dodgers, beginning Thursday here.

Despite those possible consequences, there's a reason why teams won't pitch to Howard. Over the last four years he has led the majors with 177 homers and 499 runs batted in, making the walks a sign of respect as well as a source of frustration.

"You know the situation. Everybody's out there trying to win," said Howard, who tied a major league record two years ago with five walks in one game. "It's an honor. But at the same time, if you've got a competitive nature, you want to go out there and try to hit."

So it seems likely that the Sox would go with Daisuke Matsuzaka in Game 1, followed either by Josh Beckett on an extra day's rest or Jon Lester on normal rest. The choice would be between Lester's utter dominance this postseason (and all season, really) and an extra day's rest for a pitcher who went past the 200-inning mark for the first time in his career. Not that it seems to be slowing him down. That would leave Beckett and Lester (or Lester and Beckett) as the options for Games 6 and 7.

It's likely that, given the catching situation, the choice for Game 4 would be Tim Wakefield over Paul Byrd. Manager Terry Francona has said he is loath to use Wakefield without using Kevin Cash at the same time, which limits the options for Wakefield out of the bullpen.

There are few movable parts on the roster as a whole. The pitching staff almost certainly will include Beckett, Lester, Matsuzaka, Wakefield, Byrd, Jonathan Papelbon, Manny Delcarmen, Justin Masterson, Hideki Okajima, and Javier Lopez, the 10 who were on the ALDS roster. But there are fewer days off in the ALCS, with back-to-back games Friday and Saturday, and again Monday and Tuesday. That likely means an increase to 11 pitchers, with the possible addition of Mike Timlin.

"It's still fresh, it's going to take a while," Shields said. "We can't hang our heads too low because we played our butts off. They came out and played a little better than us. But you know what? We have a good team. We expect to win, and we're going to come back fighting next year. We should still be playing right now. Everybody in this clubhouse is already itching to get back [on the field]."

Don't expect them all to be on the same field when the Angels convene for spring training in February.

The Angels will make a strong push to re-sign free-agent first baseman Mark Teixeira, but there is no guarantee the high-priced slugger will return.  he Angels will not meet Francisco Rodriguez's desires for a five-year, $75-million deal, and the record-setting closer is expected to leave as a free agent. There is a good chance veteran outfielder Garret Anderson has played his last game as an Angel, and it's doubtful pitcher Jon Garland will be retained, as owner Arte Moreno sheds payroll to make a possible run at free-agent left-hander CC Sabathia.

The Angels had all the ingredients for a World Series run -- pitching, power, speed, defense — which is why several players, especially ace John Lackey, were livid after losing to Boston.

"We lost to a team that is not better than us," Lackey said

Reached Monday at his home in Montoursville, Pa., Mussina told the Daily News that he is still undecided when it comes to playing next season.

"Not yet," Mussina said when asked if he was close to a verdict. "I'm just enjoying being home right now."

Mussina, who won his last start of the season to record the first 20-win campaign of his 18-year career, hinted after that game that he was prepared to hang up his spikes, though the idea of making a run at 300 wins - not to mention another chance at capturing that elusive championship ring - might be enough to bring him back in 2009.

"I haven't really put a timetable on it," Mussina said of his decision. "The playoffs are still going on and it still seems like the season just ended. I'm not rushing after it, but I know sooner or later I'm going to have to figure out what I want to do."

"I know what I want to do," general manager Ken Williams said Monday night after the Sox were eliminated from the postseason by Tampa Bay. "I've known what I've wanted to do for three months."

Williams seems so convinced of his intentions that he plans a "very condensed" version of the annual organizational meetings held in the fall in the Phoenix area. The organizational meetings usually allow high-level staff members to share their evaluations of players and organizational needs.

"You'll be in Las Vegas," Williams told two beat writers, referring to the site of the winter meetings Dec. 8-11. "You just never know how it's going to pan out. You know I've got ideas. I've got a plan."

Williams wasn't specific, but the Sox's pedestrian style caused them to rely heavily on home runs. They stole only 67 bases, and Orlando Cabrera was forced to move from the second spot to the leadoff position for the final five months of the season. Cabrera led the Sox with 19 stolen bases. Cabrera said returning to the Sox is an option, but he's likely to sign elsewhere while the Sox try to acquire a true leadoff hitter through trade or free agency.

"We've got to do some things," Williams said. "We've got to do some things to balance this out more, offensively and defensively."

Pitching coach Rick Honeycutt told Saito at the start of the playoffs that he would be closing, but he gave up two runs and failed to get an out in his only NLDS appearance. Broxton, who was the Dodgers' closer in the two months that Saito missed because of a sprained elbow ligament, was dominant in converting a four-out save to close out the series.

Though Torre admitted that he would like to make sure he has "some insurance" for Saito if he uses him in the ninth inning — namely, having Broxton available to relieve him — he said the former All-Star could be asked to close a one-run game if the matchups favored him.

Left-handers are hitting .244 off Saito and .270 off Broxton.

"They're certainly different from Chicago, as far as their damage guys are concerned," Torre said.

Dodgers right-handers Derek Lowe, Chad Billingsley and Hiroki Kuroda shut down the heavily right-handed Chicago Cubs lineup in the NL division series.

The plan, as it stands now, is for Lowe, Billingsley and Kuroda to start the first three games of the NLCS in that order. Kershaw, 20, is being considered for the fourth spot.

Lester's feats so far this postseason challenge belief, defy expectation. He has twice faced the lineup that won more games than any other major league team and for 14 innings has not allowed an earned run. Lester hurled blinding fastballs and devastating curveballs for seven innings last night, giving up four hits and zero runs in the Red Sox' 3-2, ALDS-clinching victory.

Lester has grabbed these playoffs by the throat and made them his personal showcase. He has now thrown 22²⁄³ consecutive innings in the postseason without allowing an earned run.

"I don't think you could ever expect a guy to go out and do what he's done in this postseason," said Sox general manager Theo Epstein. "He was phenomenal. Last year, even though he won Game 4 of the World Series, he was still kind of a young man out there finding himself. Now, he is who he is. A dominating pitcher.''

Sonnanstine may not have claimed victory in his previous seven starts, before Monday's Game 4 of the American League Division Series. But Maddon said Sonnanstine was pitching as well as he had throughout his breakout season, and the "W" would soon come.

Sonnanstine picked the perfect night to do just that. In the biggest start of his career, he delivered 5²⁄³ strong innings, giving up just two runs on three hits and punching the Rays' ticket to the American League Championship Series with his first win since Aug. 18.

To thank Sonnanstine, his teammates, calling him everything from "courageous" to "amazing," poured champagne all over his head in the wet-and-wild Rays clubhouse.

"He's just fearless," pitching coach Jim Hickey said. "And you knew in a game that we had to have, that he was going to come up pretty big."

"I didn't even get invited to the meeting," he says, while acting as if crestfallen.

Mark Sweeney overhears the conversation and says, "Well, what's he done for us?" before adding, "can we give him two shares?"

Obviously the Dodgers aren't feeling the pressure of playoff baseball, as if they had any choice with Ramirez carrying on in the clubhouse Monday.

"I'm just being myself," he says with a grin while entertaining a large group of reporters and taking the pressure off everyone else in the room. "That's why I got problems all the time."

Any chance he gets, he makes fun of himself and his reputation for being a goof. And stepping into a pair of teammate Ramon Troncoso's sneakers, while packing a pair of Russell Martin spikes for the trip to Philadelphia, how could anyone think him a goof?

"They haven't given me any shoes," he says, and if they won't give him a pair shoes why should anyone think the Dodgers are going to give him more than $20 million a year? "You know anyone who can get me size 11 1/2 shoes?"

"I couldn't believe it," he said. "Once again, we're on their field, and they're celebrating. I'm just wondering: How does this keep happening?"

This was the Angels' year. This was their time. Yet Boston knocked the Angels out of the playoffs, again. They failed to get back to the World Series, again.

That World-Series-or-bust trade for Mark Teixeira? Bust.

They are the Atlanta Braves for a new generation, an unhappy label not easily removed. This was their chance to stake their claim as an elite franchise, maybe their best chance, maybe the last chance before Teixeira and Francisco Rodriguez cash in this winter.

"You can't say we'll be in a position like this again," Torii Hunter said.

There was disappointment and frustration in every corner of the Angels' clubhouse, defiance and anger in some.

"We lost to a team that was not as good as we are," John Lackey said.

Lowrie wasn't thinking about his recent struggles at the plate. He wasn't thinking about how he made his lone error of the season in a playoff game last week that nearly cost his team a victory. He had one only thing on his mind: Curveball.

Angels hurler Scot Shields made Lowrie look foolish one night earlier, striking out the Red Sox rookie infielder on three consecutive breaking balls in the eighth inning of Los Angeles's season-saving 5-4 triumph in 12 innings in Game 3. So Lowrie went up looking for that very pitch and wasn't going to be too selective when one came on the first toss.

Lowrie slapped down on a curve that hung letter-high, pushing the ball through into right field and plating Bay with the winning run as the Red Sox topped the Angels, 3-2, in Game 4 of the American League Division Series.

The win capped a 3-games-to-1 triumph for the Sox in the best-of-five series.

"Shields has got a great curveball and he struck me out on it — three straight curveballs — the night before," Lowrie explained as teammates showered him in champagne during a jubilant locker room celebration. "In the back of my mind I'm thinking, 'Curveball.' He threw one in a spot that I could hit and I found a hole."

It unraveled when Aybar whiffed on a squeeze bunt on Manny Delcarmen's pitch, leaving Willits, who had come steaming toward home, caught in no-man's land when the ball wound up in Jason Varitek's mitt.

"Erick's a terrific bunter," said manager Mike Scioscia. "He feels obviously badly he didn't get it down. It was a great count for it. Delcarmen throws hard, which is a challenge, but I think it was a, you know, it was a buntable ball. Erick just didn't get it done, and that happens. We got to a count where I thought it was going to be a pitch that Erick could handle, and it didn't work out," Scioscia said. "But, you know, I'm sure that they were aware there was a possibility of it, sure."

As Willits scrambled back to the bag, Varitek lunged to apply the tag.

"We were kind of preparing for it, what would happen if that happened," said Dustin Pedroia. "Youk [Kevin Youkilis] said he was going to run and try to flip the ball to home. We were just fortunate enough that he missed the bunt. It was kind of a good pitch to squeeze on.

"Everything played out but him getting the bunt down. It was huge for Tek (catcher Jason Varitek) to chase down the fastest — other than Jacoby [Ellsbury] —- the fastest guy on the field."

The Red Sox are that sneering gunfighter you see in Westerns who you know is destined to draw against John Wayne. Or that glowering boxer who feels no pain who is bound to fight Rocky Balboa. The Red Sox are final-reel villains, and as formidable as they are, it is fitting that they should be the final team standing between the Rays and the World Series, wrote St. Petersburg Times columnist Gary Shelton.

"Felt fine," Beckett repeated, time and again, every time someone found a new way to ask him about his right oblique strain. Never did it factor. Never was he concerned.

Across the Red Sox, after 1 a.m. this morning in the wake of a 5-4, 12-inning loss to the Angels, Jason Varitek sat at his locker and seemed to imply Beckett's performance — statistically the worst of his postseason career — carried more grit than Beckett let on. Beckett threw a mere five innings (the fewest of his playoff career) and gave up nine hits (the most of his playoff career). Numbers, Varitek said, did define his night.

"I tip my cap to him for even being able to take that ball tonight," Varitek said. "He had to put in a lot of work to allow himself to be ready to pitch tonight. He had to work and take a lot to be able to take the ball."

To what, Varitek was asked, would he attribute Beckett's struggles?

"I can't answer that," he said. "I can say, it meant a lot, just him taking the ball, what he had to go through to be able to make his start tonight, period."

Through it all, the leftfielder has remained steadfast. He has made it clear that he enjoys playing in Philadelphia. He has said repeatedly he'd like to return.

All of which added a poignant note to the customary champagne celebration that followed the Phillies' 6-2 division series-clinching win over the Brewers Sunday afternoon at Miller Park.

Burrell's three-run homer off Milwaukee starter Jeff Suppan in the third allowed the Phillies to exhale. His solo shot in the eighth added an exclamation point to the proceedings. Somebody wondered aloud what that would do for his relationship with the fans.

"Hopefully they were watching," he said, laughing before turning serious. "The fans have been great with me. I've had some years where I haven't played very well and some stretches. But overall they've been very supportive."

In an organization that built its tradition on continuity, it's a number that is actively shunned. Yet there it was, the most compelling number of one of the Dodgers' most compelling playoff series in history.

Zero.

That is the number of times the Dodgers had used their division-series-winning lineup before the division series. The eight position players who took the field for the opening game against the Chicago Cubs had never before started a game together.

Never.

Imagine a Broadway hit show that wasn't cast until opening afternoon, an "Extreme Home Makeover" occurring entirely during a commercial break.

Russell Martin, James Loney, Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier were there, minding their own business, heading toward second place in a lousy division, when all heaven broke loose. Casey Blake arrived in late July. Manny Ramirez showed up at the beginning of August. Blake DeWitt returned from Las Vegas to play second base at the end of August. Rafael Furcal returned from a back injury in the final weekend of the regular season.

Sunday at Miller Park, however, the seemingly underwhelming addition was totally validated, with Blanton turning in a pitch-perfect performance that led to a 6-2 victory over Milwaukee in Game 4 of the division series.

Blanton allowed only one run on five hits in six-plus innings, striking out seven and walking none in the clincher.

"That's the best I've ever seen him pitch," manager Charlie Manuel said. "I've seen him pitch two or three good games. Today, he challenged the hitters. He was very aggressive. He definitely wasn't scared of nothing. He went right at them. He went right at [Prince] Fielder. . . . He went right at [Ryan] Braun. He went right after their big hitters; he didn't back away, and he did a heck of a job. He's a big reason why we won."

They can hit a home run in the playoffs, and even get a lead.

They departed Anaheim left for dead, but they left Fenway Park after 1 a.m. this morning with a pulse, and with at least one more game in their season.

Now the Angels play their ace. If John Lackey can lift the Angels to victory  Monday night, he can force the series back to Anaheim for the decisive Game 5.

Abreu has said several times that he would like to remain with the Yankees, having enjoyed his 2½-year stint in pinstripes. But the 34-year-old also is seeking at least a three year-contract, leading most baseball insiders to believe the outfielder will wind up in a new uniform this winter.

According to a source, Abreu has been upset by some recent media reports and speculation suggesting that his days in the Bronx are over. Abreu is vacationing with his family in the Bahamas and is expected to return to the area this weekend, although his situation won't be settled until next month at the earliest, as he figures to test the free agent market.

GM Brian Cashman said he has not discussed any contract issues with Abreu or his representatives, so he wasn't in a position to say how many years Abreu is seeking. But Cashman, who pulled the 2006 deadline deal to acquire Abreu from the Phillies along with pitcher Cory Lidle, stressed that he is "a big fan" of the outfielder. "I thought he was a welcome addition," Cashman said. "He solidified right field, was an offensive force and has been a steady performer. He's a professional, and his demeanor is outstanding. He's done a great job."